Wayne Rooney is substituted by Fabio Capello during last year's Euro Qualifier against Wales Getty Images

Fabio Capello has made a thinly veiled dig at Wayne Rooney's below-par form for England at Euro 2012 by joking that the striker must only understand "Scottish" because he "only plays well in Manchester".

The comment by the former England manager, understood to have
been made on Italian television, was itself a reference to the
criticism that Capello, and his Italian back-room staff, believe
was directed at them from Rooney this month. The comment that
Capello appears to have reacted to in particular was Rooney's
observation that it was simpler now that the players were
communicating with a native, English-speaking manager.

Capello said: "After seeing the latest game [against Italy], I
think Rooney only understands Scottish. That's because he only
plays well in Manchester, where Sir Alex Ferguson speaks
Scottish."

The United striker said before his first game of the tournament
against Ukraine that the fact that Capello's successor, Roy
Hodgson, was English had made a difference. Rooney said then: "I
think it helps everyone being English. There are no words lost in
translation and we understand what the manager wants from us. The
manager trusts his players, which is obviously a big help to the
players."

Rooney did also thank Capello for the lengths he went to in
order to get his three-match ban for the red card he received in
qualifying against Montenegro reduced to two games at Euro 2012.
The comment about Rooney understanding "Scottish" is fairly typical
of the kind of jokes that Capello used to attempt, usually with
only moderate success, when he was England manager.

The biggest-selling Italian sports newspaper Gazzetta dello
Sport has been forced to apologise for a cartoon in which it
depicted Mario Balotelli as King Kong, in a crass attempt at satire
involving the striker climbing Big Ben rather than the Empire State
Building. With sensitivities about racial abuse running high at
Euro 2012, it was recognised by the paper as a crass decision and
removed from its website.

The player himself and his family were understood to be very
unhappy with the cartoon.